EVE Online dev brings MMO shooter to consoles with Dust 514

Love EVE Online? Love consoles? Well bad news, because EVE Online isn't coming to consoles. However, EVE developer CCP is taking a massively-multiplayer online games outside of the PC with Dust 514, a brand new shooter with RTS elements that ties into the EVE universe.

“We launched EVE Online in 2003 and have experienced steady annual growth– a fact we appreciate as a rarity in the world of MMOs, especially given the global economy of the past year,” claims CCP CEO Hilmar Veigar Petursson . “Our success with EVE Online has afforded us the highest caliber global design and production talent in gaming. With a team of the best minds in the industry, we conceived an ambitious new take on virtual world development with DUST 514.”

Even more interestingly, whatever happens in Dust 514 will directly affect EVE Online, and vice versa. Players could use Dust to effectively capture and control planets, and the PC MMO will reflect the territorial changes. That's actually pretty damn cool!

Dust 514 sounds like it could be incredibly good. We'll have to sit tight and wait for more details, but what do you make of this early announcement? Would you play an MMO if it put a gun in your hand and came to consols, or will it take more than sci-fi violence to draw you in?

Cologne, GERMANY, Game Developers Conference Europe – August 18, 2009 – CCP today revealed DUST 514™, a console-based hybrid MMO/FPS set within the EVE universe. The announcement, which included a video featuring gameplay footage, was made during a keynote address by CCP CEO Hilmar Veigar Petursson at the Game Developers Conference in Cologne, Germany.

DUST 514, featuring first-person shooter and RTS-style gameplay, will interact directly with EVE Online, CCP’s critically acclaimed flagship MMO. This interplay between the two games opens the EVE universe to console gamers and gives them a chance to become part of one of the most massive cooperative play and social experiences ever.

“We launched EVE Online in 2003 and have experienced steady annual growth– a fact we appreciate as a rarity in the world of MMOs, especially given the global economy of the past year,” said Petursson. “Our success with EVE Online has afforded us the highest caliber global design and production talent in gaming. With a team of the best minds in the industry, we conceived an ambitious new take on virtual world development with DUST 514.”

The primary gameplay of DUST 514 features brutal ground combat that takes place on the surface of planets from EVE, delivering the visceral, adrenaline-fueled experience of futuristic firefights. Developed for the current generation of consoles, DUST 514 combines equal parts battlefield reflexes and strategic planning, giving commanders and ground infantry real-time configurable weapons and modular vehicles to manage dynamic battlefield conditions.

Now entering its third year of production, DUST 514 is the primary development focus of CCP’s Shanghai studio. The team includes veteran designers of EVE Online and experienced talent from various sectors of the video game industry.

“Since opening our Shanghai studio, we have invested in building a team that wants to push the envelope in gaming and be pioneers in the industry,” said Kjartan Pierre Emilsson, Managing Director of CCP Shanghai. “Having led the design and development efforts of the project from start to finish, our studio is honored to call DUST 514 our first title release.”